ABSTRACT ? ADMINISTRATION AND SENIOR LEADERSHIP The Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (SBMRI) was founded as the La Jolla Cancer Research Foundation in 1976 and became an NCI-designated Cancer Center in 1981. While other areas of research at SBMRI have expanded over the past decade, cancer research remains the predominant activity (74% of faculty). Because SBMRI and the Cancer Center have co-evolved, the Cancer Center has not needed its own general administration and instead uses SBMRI's services, including Finance, Sponsored Research, Human Resources, Administrative Assistants, Purchasing, Information Technology, External Relations, Facilities, and Environmental Health & Services (EH&S). Thus, the Cancer Center Administration consists of a small team that ensures the Center receives high-quality services from SBMRI Administration and focuses specifically on the effective management of the Cancer Center and its operations within the CCSG Guidelines/FOA. The Cancer Center Administrative Team holds monthly meetings with key members of SBMRI Administration to ensure close coordination and to obtain necessary support for new Center initiatives. In addition to scheduled monthly meetings, the Director and the Administrative leaders have frequent informal interactions to integrate the Center Administration activities with the scientific goals of the Cancer Center. The Cancer Center Administration leadership consists of the Associate Director for Administration and the Associate Director for Shared Resources. The Center leadership and administration are supported by an Administrative Coordinator, a Shared Resources Coordinator, and a Senior Administrative assistant whose salaries are supported by SBMRI. The Cancer Center Leadership Team (CCLT), the de facto Cancer Center Executive Committee, advises the Cancer Center Director on matters relating to Cancer Center membership, recommendations for promotion, recruitment and space assignment, pilot project funding and other uses of CCSG development funds. Final authority for decisions rests with the Cancer Center Director. At its monthly meetings, the CCLT reviews progress toward attaining the Cancer Center's goals in strategic planning, which includes ongoing and planned recruitments, mentoring, education, recruitment from minority and disadvantaged populations (with a report by the Associate Director for Education and Mentoring, a new position for this submission), and collaboration in team science, including institutional recognition of team science in promotion and tenure decisions.